Wireless communications is becoming increasingly important, with wireless systems finding their way into every growing numbers of applications. Wireless systems are become ubiquitous in the military environment.
Early wireless systems typically operated in a point-to-point arrangement, where a communications link was formed between an individual transmitter and individual receiver. Eventually, networked communications were desired, where communications could occur between several different locations simultaneously using a shared communications channel. Initial networked systems often used manual protocols to ensure that multiple transmitters did not attempt to transmit on the channel simultaneously (and thus interfere with each other). For example, network communications can be directed by a network control operator who periodically polls individual stations to determine if they need to make a transmission.
Many legacy communications systems were initially designed for use in a point-to-point arrangement, and thus are not well suited toward networked communication. This problem can be exacerbated when high speed data communications is desired. In such a system, intervention by a human operator is undesirable due to the resulting inefficiencies and delays that are introduced.